The Struggle is...
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:14-25
You’ve heard the phrase “The struggle is real.” In a meme-filled world, that phrase has taken on a joking quality. Someone might say, “My internet was down for 2 hours yesterday. I had nothing to do. The struggle is real.” Though today it’s used humorously, its origin is a bit more somber.
Paul describes a very real struggle that goes on within every Christian. It was going on within Paul himself. And yes, this is limited to Christians because only Christians are “born of water and the Spirit,” as Jesus says (John 3:5). The non-Christian isn’t trying to follow God’s law, even if the law they follow sometimes lines up with God’s law.
Yes, this struggle is real. It’s real because though every Christian, like Paul, is sainted and sanctified by God, each and every Christian is, like Paul, “unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.” And, oh, how this plays out in your life as a Christian.
The Christian man or woman wants to show love to their spouse but often offers up a mean quip instead of an affectionate word. The Christian student or employee wants to honor God through diligent work but laziness wins the day. The Christian wants to shine a light in this dark world but fear or hate take over instead.
The struggle is real. But we Christians (because, again, only Christians have this struggle) often find ourselves living a fiction. On the one hand, we choose to ignore the struggle. We believe we’re somehow not at fault.
“I said that to my wife only because she’s getting on my nerves.”
“I would work harder, but I’m not being rewarded.”
“How could I possibly love that person?”
We make excuses to preserve our self-righteousness. Fool’s gold is what that righteousness is.
On the other hand, we wallow in despair.
“I’m supposed to be a Christian, but what Christian would do such things?”
“How can I call myself a Christian if I’m still sinning day after day?”
“How can I be a Christian and still struggle?”
“I must not really be a Christian.”
Our enemy the devil would love for us to fall into one of these extremes. Either to believe we don’t really need a Savior because we’re so righteous or to believe there’s no Savior for us because we’re too depraved.
The struggle is real. And it is necessary. It keeps us focused. When we admit the struggle is real, we must despair of our self-righteousness. We must declare with Paul, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?”
But despair is not the end. There is one who can deliver you from the struggle because he has overcome the struggle for you. “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” He delivers us from our wretchedness and gives us power in our struggle against the flesh, now a reeling opponent on the brink of a knockout. The struggle inside drives us outside again and again to the only one who can deliver this wretched and depraved soul. He gives us his righteousness, a righteousness that is true gold. And he will fully deliver us from the struggle when he removes the sinful flesh from us forever in heaven.